Recovery
by Kathryn6
Summary: The Second Part of a trilogy. (In order to understand this fiction you will need to read Raid first, however it does include a brief summary.) While Phoebe and Paige are recovering from the events at P3, a quick succession of demons are attacking.
1. Raid Recap

Recovery  
  
Raid Recap  
  
Masked gunmen held P3 under siege. Phoebe was physically hurt and Paige was emotionally hurt, with both girls after individual uprisings (Phoebe's unsuccessful and Paige successful) were left to deal with the consequences. Piper was left feeling defenceless outside of P3 and took out her anger on the Elders.  
  
This fic takes place only a couple of weeks after Raid.  
  
Disclaimer: If you've heard of them, I don't own them.  
  
This story only takes into account, the up and including the events of the episode Baby's First Demon (because I have not seen past that episode.) 


	2. Part One

Part One  
  
Paige jolted up in her bed and let out a chilling scream that echoed around her room as she felt her body shake. She felt her body freeze up as she came out of her recurring dream, the events that had unfolded at P3 only a matter of weeks ago.  
  
The dream had been so real; she had not only seen the events but had had a suffocating feeling that she had felt his body still on top of her, overpowering her.  
  
It took a couple of minutes to realise that she was still in her bedroom and that no one else was there.  
  
After a couple of deep breath, where she gripped the sides of her bed firmly, she slowly reached her right arm across to her bedside cabinet while using her left hand to dry her eyes. Just as she was about to open the door of the wooden cabinet, she noticed her older sisters standing at her door.  
  
"Sorry if I woke you." Paige muttered turning to the side and hiding her head in the pillows. "I didn't mean too and everything's okay now."  
  
Piper glanced over at Phoebe who rested on the door looking into the room before making her way over into her baby sister's room. Piper sat next to Paige on her bed as she pulled her towards her and felt Paige's shaking body.  
  
"It's okay, don't worry that angel of a son of mine would have woke me up soon anyway." Piper explained as she looked directly into Paige's tearstained eyes. "So you've nothing to worry about."  
  
"Yeah," Phoebe agreed from her position in the doorway. "I'd have to be up for work in about an hour."  
  
Piper smiled over at Phoebe. "See you should never doubt me, there's nothing to worry about. 'Cause we both might as well be up with you than fighting for the bathroom."  
  
Paige considered the concerned look on her oldest sister's face for a second before dismissing it. A young face that was beginning to visibly show 'worry' lines across her forehead and bags under her eyes.  
  
It would have been so easy to fall into Piper's loving tender arms and let her worries drift away. But Piper was not going to be able to make what had already happen disappear into thin air, so what was the point in giving her all the details of what had happened in P3. The reason why she was still petrified and had woken up in a sweat screaming since everything had unfolded on that dreadful night.  
  
She had dealt with it on her own then and could do it again now.  
  
Pulling away from Piper, Paige jerked her knees up to her body for protection. "I'm okay. Go back to bed."  
  
Piper crossed her arms as she fixed her gaze on Paige, "You're not okay, you're still shaking."  
  
"But I'll be okay."  
  
"Yes you will," Piper said in a reassuring voice as she glanced up at Phoebe and the doorway to Paige's bedroom. "But it's okay to fall apart from time to time, its okay for things to take time and its okay to let other know how you feel."  
  
Piper looked between her two sisters. She had never felt so isolated as in the last two weeks. Both of her younger sisters had blocked her out from the events that had occurred in her club. She was sure that they were isolating themselves to protect her from the facts but it was only hurting the two of the more.  
  
Paige had become a shell of her former self. She looked diminished in her figure and her eyes were that of a frighten girl as she physically jumped in her skin whenever she heard a door open.  
  
Phoebe had gone to the other extreme and blocked out all her feelings as she threw herself back into her job. Giving the full impression that she was functioning as normal. However, she had not left the house for anything other than work and had a firm steel untouchable look in her eyes as she had stopped touching anyone who came near her.  
  
Paige flicked her eyes up to look at Piper as she thought about what her older sister had just told her. "Maybe a hug would be okay."  
  
Piper pulled Paige into a great bear hug as she kissed her forehead. The eldest Halliwell felt Paige's exhausted, trembling body in her arms as she wiped the sweat coated hair out of her eyes.  
  
"I'm here for you, you just remember that." Piper explained as she held onto Paige with a tighter grip than before. "And you never, never need to ask for a hug."  
  
Phoebe glanced over at her two sister's hug as she felt an empty feeling rise from her heart. She wanted to rush over there and join the two of the in the hug, but something held her back. The same feeling that she had failed to fight for the last fortnight. The feeling that her feet were glued to the floor as she attempted to move them forward, a feeling of fear.  
  
"I'll go get you some water." Phoebe offered heading for the stairs and leaving the scene that had developed before her.  
  
Phoebe almost sprinted down the stair and into the kitchen nearly knocking Leo who was holding Wyatt while warming up some breast milk. Not looking up at Leo she headed straight for the coffee machine.  
  
"Sorry," Phoebe muttered as she poured a glass of water out.  
  
"That's okay," Leo replied as he cooed at his infant son. "How's Paige?"  
  
"Coping," Phoebe told him bluntly as she smiled at her nephew. "Piper's with her."  
  
Leo looked directly at Phoebe as she turned back to the cupboard to get down a couple of mugs. She had clearly been avoiding all contact with people over the last couple of weeks, something that had not gone unnoticed by the whitelighter.  
  
"And how are you?"  
  
"Me?" Phoebe questioned avoiding her brother-in-laws gaze. "I'm fine."  
  
"And that's why you can't touch Paige or go anywhere near P3."  
  
"I was shot there, Leo." Phoebe spat out as she ignored the other part of Leo's statement.  
  
* * *  
  
Piper carefully rested Paige's head back down on the pillow as she felt her younger sister fall back to sleep through a mixture of emotion and pure exhaustion. She was just glad that Paige could still sleep even if it was in scattered patches. It was the only time that she looked even partly peaceful when her eyes were closed. That was until she would start to shake and wake up with an ear-piercing scream and panting.  
  
Paige had been fighting off sleep until her eyes closed with a lack of energy to fit to keep them open. And her emotional state of earlier seemed to have shattered her and her body was sent into overdrive and her eyes shut.  
  
Piper kissed her younger sister on the forehead as she turned to head for the door only to have her path blocked by a man.  
  
"What the hell."  
  
"Get out of the way witch."  
  
The man smiled at Piper before throwing her to the floor. He was going to kill the Charmed Ones and take his rightful place on the throne of the underworld.  
  
Piper looked up from the floor at the demon that was now bouncing a fireball in his hands. In instinct, Piper threw her arms up in the air as she saw the demon shatter into thousands of pieces and sending the fireball of course.  
  
Paige woke with a jolt as she saw a fireball fly into her light.  
  
"Leo, Phoebe," Piper screamed at the top at her voice before turning to look at Paige. "You okay?" 


	3. Part Two

Part Two  
  
Phoebe came into Paige's room holding the Book of Shadows as a protective shield at her. She looked up at her two sisters and then her eyes shifted to incinerate bedside light and scorch marks on the wall.  
  
Her eyes fixed on Piper who holding tightly onto Paige. Paige had taken a similar stance of protecting her body with her knees and looking down at the floor.  
  
"Is she okay?"  
  
Piper glanced at Paige before looking back to Phoebe, who was still visibly keeping her distance from the bed. "We'll get through it."  
  
"'Cause we will." Phoebe agreed as she glanced at her younger sister.  
  
Phoebe smiled as she placed the Book of Shadows on Paige's bed and turned it so both Piper and Paige could see the pages. Phoebe quickly scanned through the pages as she flicked through trying to identify the demon.  
  
Unable to find the demon she violently slammed the book down in dissatisfaction, shaking the bed and making both Piper and Paige jump. This one demon was not the route of the problem; the route of the problem she reluctantly admitted to herself was those evil sons of bitches at P3 a fortnight ago.  
  
Phoebe's body tensioned as she thought about that night and she took a couple of steps back into a chair and keeping her distance from Paige.  
  
Piper's eyes left Paige and glanced over at Phoebe. She let out a small sigh as she noticed Phoebe taking her familiar position as she backed away.  
  
"What's going on in that head of yours?" Piper asked as her eyes drifted onto the Book of Shadows that had been slammed shut at the edge of Paige's bed.  
  
"All sorts of different things. But you know what I'm more worried about," Phoebe started keeping her eyes fixed on her younger sister. "Is not that we can't vanquish them it is that it's the seventeenth demon in the two weeks we've vanquished. I mean there must be a reason why they are all attacking now."  
  
"Self promotion. Rising to try and become the Source." Piper suggested considering Phoebe's statement for the first time, she had been fair to worried about other attractive to worry about counting demons. "It wouldn't be the first time."  
  
Phoebe focused her eyes on Paige, "That was not what I was thinking."  
  
* * *  
  
Leo had darted downstairs as soon as he had heard the phone go, both to escape from the tension of Paige's room and to give the three girls time to talk. He was not sure on what the best path to take was, after all his years of experience as a whitelighter he had never experienced this before.  
  
All the evil he had fought since his own death during the Second World War had a vanquish that was available. Even when there had been a personal involvement and even love, the vanquish and the fact that they were dealing with Demons had provided an answer. This was the case with Cole. There was something in them that could define them as evil.  
  
This was different, the aggressors here were human beings and that seemed to have shaken the Charmed Ones even more.  
  
The only thing that he did know was the girls needed to work through this together and talk about it. It had been the only way that they had got through things in the past and he was convince it was the only way they could come through this.  
  
"Sorry Darryl." He said down the phone as he heard his friend's voice. "I drifted away into my thoughts."  
  
"That's okay." Darryl's voice replied. "How are Phoebe and Paige coping?"  
  
"Not very well. But I know that there strong enough to get through this."  
  
"Of course they are." Darryl said with a strong conviction in the tone of his voice. "But we do need to go over their full statements soon."  
  
"What?" Leo asked in a stunned fashion.  
  
Leo glanced up the stairs in disbelief, how was he going to tell his family that the police wanted them to relive the experience again. The only thing that had seemed to be getting them through the whole episode was the knowledge that the feeling would not last forever and slowly they would be able to be able to put this behind them.  
  
"Leo," Darryl voice had a reasoning tone. "I've put them off as long as possible and its only the fact were friends that there has not been an officer round earlier. But there are big gaps in the statement, especially Paige's, like what happened in the office. And if possible we are going to need them both to testify."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I'll come over as soon as I get into the office." Darryl told him, "And try to explain what we need."  
  
"Okay, we'll see you later." Leo said as he glanced at the stairs again.  
  
"You take care of the girls for me."  
  
Leo offered the briefest if smiles, "I will."  
  
* * *  
  
Piper kept her eyes on Phoebe. She had had enough of these vague comments and these avoiding tactics that she was using. She knew that her younger sister was suffering to deal with everything but she was going to get to the route of these problems now.  
  
Piper kissed Paige on the top of her forehead and gave her a squeeze before standing up. "I'll be right back."  
  
She roughly grabbed Phoebe wrist and pulled her up out of the chair and just outside Paige's room. Phoebe looked in shock as she rested her hand on her hip and waited for Piper to close to door before she spoke.  
  
"What the hell was that about?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Exactly what I was going to ask you." Piper told glancing at the closed door and gesturing to Phoebe to keep her voice down. "I want to go what's going on right now."  
  
"As I just said, I think there's more to these endless demonic attacks that meets the eye." Phoebe explained.  
  
"That's not what I'm talking about, we can deal with the demons." Piper told her sister as she soften her look on her face as noticed Phoebe's shaken face. "I'm talking about you."  
  
Phoebe looked back in shock at her older sister, she could not believe that Piper was actually challenging her over this issue.  
  
"Well in case you hadn't noticed P3 was held under siege and I was shot as well as seeing things that you couldn't even imagine." Phoebe answered back at her older sister. "It's going to take more than two weeks to get over this."  
  
Piper reached out to Phoebe, "Well tell me about it then. Make me understand, because I can't help if neither you or Paige will talk about it."  
  
Phoebe pulled away from Piper as she felt tears start to well in her eyes. She could not hide this anymore.  
  
"Phoebe," Piper started, "Please let me in and tell me what's wrong. Tell me why you can't touch Paige and why you have a pained look in your eyes every time you look at her."  
  
"I left her in that room with that son of a bitch."  
  
"Ah Phoebe," Piper said as she reached her arm out. "I don't blame and neither does Paige. You were focused to leave her in there, they would have shot you otherwise."  
  
"But I do, I blame myself." Phoebe explained as she turned her back to the room. "And when I went back in that office to comfort her as I was jolted into premonition after premonition and I dealt with that then because there was no other choice. But now she has you and I'm not sure whether I can see her go through that all again." 


	4. Part Three

Part Three  
  
Piper instantly pulled Phoebe into a hug and tipped her face so that she was looking directly into her younger sister's eyes. As Phoebe looked up she was shocked to see that her older sister had a brief smile on her face.  
  
"What's that for?" Phoebe asked in an uncertain fashion. "Why the smile?"  
  
"Don't know," Piper shrugged. "I guess its instinct, a relief that you're not shutting me out anymore. 'Cause now I can do something to help."  
  
Phoebe sent her older sister a doubtful look, "You can change what has already happened."  
  
"Yeah, I know that." Piper told her. "But I can try to help you both. And in trying to help you, I know that you've got to get over this fear of a premonition."  
  
Phoebe looked at her older sister doubtfully as she pulled further away. "I'm not sure I can."  
  
"Well you can't go through the of you're life without at least trying to overcome it." Piper explained. "Unless you plan on never touching Paige or anything she owns or even say a chair she sat on."  
  
Phoebe glanced at Piper and then the closed bedroom door. She knew Piper was right and she had to deal with everything that had happened, it was just taking the first step that was going to be the hard part.  
  
Piper looked back at her younger sister and as if reading her mind gave her an encourage smile, "I'm not saying it going to be easy, but you will get through it."  
  
"And will Paige?"  
  
"Yeah," Piper said glancing at the door with her eyes. "She way too determined and well stubborn not too, but I think that she going to have to admit to us and herself what happened in that room."  
  
"I've been thinking about that," Phoebe started as she remembered the terrifying scream that Paige had issued in the office in P3 and then had left her mouth every night since. And then the way she constantly was protecting her stomach with her knees and her transition from her normal outfits to baggy ones that covered every itch of her. "What if she was."  
  
"Don't even say that word." Piper warned her young sister. "If she was we'll deal with it, but don't even think about it until we know. Tell me about you're theory about these demon attacks instead."  
  
"Well, it's just we've been doing this too long for me to believe that they were all just random attacks." Phoebe told her as she placed her hand on the handle of Paige's bedroom door and looked over her shoulder. "I mean there has been far too many of them for it to be normal."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"I think that the underworld has heard." Phoebe started but on throwing open the door stopped.  
  
Bright red lights appeared before the two elder Halliwell as they saw a demon shimmering into the bedroom.  
  
The demon held up a small bronze danger above his head as if to throw it at the youngest Charmed One.  
  
Phoebe instantly levitated and raised her left leg in a flying kick that aimed at the demon's head. Piper watched to see her sister gracefully land and the demon fell to the floor.  
  
"Call for the danger, Paige." Phoebe yelled, as she got back to her feet in a fighting pose.  
  
Paige looked between the demon and Phoebe and held her hand out as if to call for the danger but her voice dried up. She just could not do it. What was the point in continue the pain she was experiencing.  
  
Piper took a second to read Paige mind, she was not going to act. They were one Charmed One down she thought as she noticed the demon get to her feet and raise the bronze danger again. Only milliseconds after her minds had absorbed the fact she threw up her arms and watched as the demon broke into millions of little pieces.  
  
"What the hell is going on down here?" Piper screamed into the thin air. "What's with all the attacks?"  
  
Phoebe eyes shot straight to Paige who had pulled her covers closer to herself.  
  
"You okay?" Phoebe asked and waiting for her younger sister to nod her head, continued. "Well what was that he could have killed you!"  
  
"Well maybe it would have been for the best." Paige told her older sisters before grabbing her bed covers and heading for the bathroom. "Because I can't deal with this any longer!" 


	5. Part Four

Part Four  
  
Paige took a final look over her shoulder before locking the bathroom door. She had fled there, as it was the only room in the house with a lock. And she just needed to be on her own.  
  
She rested her back against the wall and she let her tears start to flow again and hugged her knees to her stomach. Her mind was spinning; she just didn't know what to do anymore and could not believe what she just said. She just needed to do this by herself somehow.  
  
She didn't want to die; she knew that if not anything else. And Phoebe was right if she didn't pull herself out of this she would die. A demon attack would be successful.  
  
She hated it when one of her older sisters were right.  
  
The only thing that had got her through that night and everyday since was to know that she was a survivor. And she was not going to survive that attack only to be killed by a demon. She just was not sure how she would survive this time. And how she would do this on her own because she could not drag them into this; that was why she had resorted to one of her old solution.  
  
Paige pulled her knees tighter to her as the thought ran through her mind.  
  
How could some idiot have hurt her so much, so that she saw no way out and had resorted to this?  
  
And more importantly how did she pull herself together again?  
  
* * *  
  
Piper glanced at Paige who had disappeared out of the room and then back to Phoebe. This was getting nowhere and only further upsetting both of her sisters. It was time for the facts and exactly what had gone on in the club.  
  
"Phoebe," Piper started.  
  
"I know, I know." Phoebe replied as she sat on the edge of Paige's bed. "I was just a little shocked that she froze. I mean despite everything that has happened, I never expected her to freeze."  
  
"Yeah, the same here. I mean she got out of the club on her own and got everyone else out. She was a true hero." Piper agreed as she joined her sister on the bed and looked directly into Phoebe's eyes. "I think it's time you told me everything that you saw in that premonition."  
  
Phoebe narrowed her eyes as she looked at the floor and placed her hands together as she ran them over her mouth and nose. How did she tackle this question? How could she possibility tell Piper what she had seen? Denial and doubts had become the only thing that had kept her sane, the thought that by some miracle that the only thing that had happened to Paige were the events that had taken place in that premonition.  
  
She took a deep breath as she transported her mind back to the experience and remember the premonition that had haunted her dreams since.  
  
"Like any premonition, its not the full picture. And guess that's why I can still convince myself that she only experience what I saw, but somehow I don't think so." Phoebe explained in an apologetic manner, "But I'm not sure that I could watch anymore of it."  
  
Piper braced herself as she glanced out of the doorway. "Go on."  
  
"Paige," Phoebe started and Piper noticed a shutter in her younger sister's voice that had not been there before. "Well, she was in this fight with Mike and he quickly overpowered her. I mean he was a big guy, Piper, Paige really stood no chance."  
  
Phoebe mouth dried up as she walked away from her older sister's and over to her baby sister's art stand. She kept her back turned Piper as she looked at the artist supplies.  
  
"He gave her a severe beating before raising his gun," Phoebe explained. "He really, really hurt her and that's only what I saw, you saw the bruises before Leo healed her. But Leo can't heal what goes on in your mind. And I know it got worst because when I was in the club after the gunshot I heard her scream. You know the same scream that's woken her up since."  
  
Phoebe glanced over shoulder at her big sister as she trailed her hand along the top of a half finished picture. "There is going so many times that you can see your baby sister getting the cr*p kicked out of her. And then have your mind drift to."  
  
Piper looked over at her younger sister and looked straight back at her. "I'm going to sort this out. But first, LEO!!!"  
  
Phoebe sent her sister a bemused look as she saw the familiar golden sparkling orbs appeared and formed into her brother-in-law.  
  
"Can you orb up there and get confirmation on Phoebe's theory about these demon attacks, that the underworld know all about the P3 incident. Because I need to know whether there's going to be anymore." Piper instructed her husband, who nodded and smiled back. "I'll go to Paige and Pheebs what about you."  
  
"Give me a couple of minutes," Phoebe told her face started to show the relief of the burdens being lifted. "I need to call Elise and tell her I'm going to work from home today."  
  
Piper soften her look at her younger sister as she gave her a small smile. She could not image what Phoebe had been through and pure fear that she had had in both the club and the chance of getting a premonition. But Paige was her priority right now, because Phoebe was right, she doubted he had stopped after the gunshot.  
  
Phoebe watched as Piper left the room and Leo orbed out. She sunk to the floor for a second; she just needed a couple of minutes. It took her nearly a minute to register that she had just knocked over a glass that contained the dreads of a clear liquid.  
  
Phoebe raised her hand and quickly smelt the residue on her skin and flung opened her younger sister's bedside cabinet. Pulling out a half empty bottle of vodka and let her head collapse into her other hand.  
  
"Oh God Paige, what happened to you?" She muttered to herself. "And what have you done?" 


	6. Part Five

Author's Note: I would just like to thank Anna for her email, I tried to reply to you but I kept getting the email returned.  
  
Part Five  
  
Darryl was sat in one of the large white chairs in the sunroom. He looked up and around the Halliwell manor. To someone that did not know what had happened, the household seemed to be function to a relatively normal state.  
  
The house was in the usually turmoil.  
  
Phoebe had greeted him in her normal way and then rushed off as her phone rang again. She looked in the same hectic self as normal as she explained that she would be right back.  
  
Piper was upstairs fussing around and he'd not seen Paige since he had arrived. Actually he had not seen Paige since he had carried her out of P3.  
  
Darryl looked up at Phoebe who came in.  
  
"Sorry about that it was Elise." Phoebe explained as she took a seat opposite her friend. "I brought you some coffee."  
  
"Thanks," Darryl replied as he took the mug off her. "How you feeling?"  
  
"Fine," Phoebe said as she took a sip of her coffee. "Just in the need of some serious caffeine. So what new?"  
  
Darryl passed Phoebe some photographs. "We need to go over both your and Paige's statements and fill in the gaps."  
  
"Okay," Phoebe took a deep breath, "Lets go through it."  
  
"We're going to need Paige as well." Darryl explained  
  
Phoebe glanced towards the ceiling, "That might not be as easy."  
  
* * *  
  
Paige closed her eyes softly as she heard Piper on the other side of the door. She just needed to stay focussed so that she would be able to deal with this. Trying to work through everything that was floating through her mind.  
  
The understanding of the attack on P3 was random and had sunk in as soon as the feet ran down the stairs. It was just bad luck.  
  
But why had she been raped?  
  
There were over a couple of dozen other women in P3 that night, so why her?  
  
She knew the answer to that without even thinking about it. She had put herself in the right position, made herself the perfect victim by flirting with that monster all night. Dancing with him, exchanging chat up lines and even telling him a bit about her herself. She'd brought it all on herself.  
  
Pulling herself up she flung open the bathroom door. Ignoring Piper, who was sitting on the floor outside her room, she headed straight for her bedroom. She needed her vodka. Something that would dull the pain, stop the tears and help her enter denial again.  
  
A belief that if she didn't speak about it to anyone then maybe it was just a bad dream and had never happened.  
  
"Paige?" She heard Piper voice call after her.  
  
"Not right now," Paige almost shouted as she fixed her eyes straight in front of her. "Okay not right not."  
  
"Paige, we just want to help."  
  
"I can deal with this." Paige told her in a determined voice.  
  
Piper look at her younger sister, the direct approach seemed to have worked with Phoebe. It had shocked her out of her silence and denial.  
  
She placed her hand on Paige's shoulder. "I know what happened in that office."  
  
Paige briefly looked at Piper through tearstained eyes to see her older sister's concerned face.  
  
"Just give me a minute," Paige replied as she closed the door behind her.  
  
Paige quickly made her way to the bedside cupboard and flung it open. She quickly scanned through her positions in there before standing to throw things rapidly on the floor.  
  
She needed that bottle of Vodka now more than ever.  
  
Unable to find her bottle of Vodka she reached for her oversized sweater and an old pair of jeans.  
  
* * *  
  
Glowing white orbs appeared before Phoebe and Darryl. Phoebe glanced up at her brother-in-law as she attempted to read the expression on his face.  
  
Leo looked back at the two of them briefly before leaving the room and rushing out the room.  
  
"Piper!" He called up the stairs.  
  
Phoebe gripped on to Darryl arm; Leo's actions had just confirmed everything that she had fear. She just needed to hold on to someone.  
  
Darryl pushed her files and drink away as he wrapped his arms around his friend's pulling her into a hug.  
  
Phoebe watched, as Leo appeared only second later with his wife.  
  
Piper took a seat straight away and glanced back up at her husband, "What did the elders say?"  
  
"They confirmed what you thought."  
  
"What exactly?" Phoebe asked, "What do the Underworld know?"  
  
Leo looked at them, how did he actually tell them. How did he stop the blissful denial in which they had all been living in?  
  
"They know your one Charmed One down so to speak." Leo started before his voice sobered. "They know Paige was raped." 


	7. Part Six

Part Six  
  
Phoebe walked out of the sunroom and into the doorway of the living room as she heard Leo utter the words 'raped'. She just needed some time to think. Why had she left her in that room? Why have she not risked helping her younger sister whatever the cost may have been?  
  
The middle charmed one glanced up at the stairs, no wonder Paige had turned back to alcohol after those events. She would have done the same thing if it had happened to her. Why had it not happened to her instead?  
  
Phoebe was jolted out of her thought as she saw Paige walking down the stairs and heading straight for the door.  
  
"Paige," She started in a weak voice. "Darryl's here to talk to you."  
  
Paige looked back over her shoulder as she attempted to find her car keys. "I'll only be a minute."  
  
"Yeah?" Phoebe started, "Where you going?"  
  
"Just out," Paige replied with a shrug.  
  
"The off license?"  
  
Phoebe stared straight at Paige in the eyes. She just had to stop Paige from turning back to alcohol. It was the least that she could do.  
  
"It's not going to help Paige."  
  
Paige let out a large sigh, "How do you know that?"  
  
"Because it will just temporally hide the pain and you'll only end up having to deal with it later. Like when I lost my baby." Phoebe told her as her voice chocked over the last couple of words. "Lets go talk to Darryl, get it over with."  
  
Paige looked directly back at her older sister without saying a word and slowly made her way to the sunroom. She had dealt with so much before and a couple police questions could be managed.  
  
Phoebe watched her younger sister head out of the hallway and down into the sunroom. Taking a final glance at Paige she grabbed the car keys off the table and following her baby sister.  
  
Paige crossed her arms, placing them in front of her stomach as she looked at the three people who were sat before her. She kept her face emotionless as she asked, "What did you need to tell me?"  
  
Darryl glanced at both Piper and Leo before looking back at the youngest Charmed One. Looking into her eyes he noticed the same frighten expression that he had only seen the night of the raid. In fact everything about Paige seemed very different to the girl he had known only three weeks ago. Her clothes, her expressions and the way she held herself yet there was something behind the frighten eyes that provided a glimmer of Paige's strength and personality.  
  
"We need to go over the statement with particular reference with what happen in the office at P3 and how you managed to get the gun and get everyone out of there." Darryl explained slowly.  
  
"I called for it," Paige said blankly as she looked over at Leo. "And the Elders."  
  
"They know everything," Leo told her.  
  
"Okay," Paige replied in the same dull tone, before turning to the door and looking over her shoulder. "I think I'm going to go back with the statement, that you can tell the Elders and the police, I can't deal with this."  
  
"Paige," Piper started as she got to her feet and watched her youngest sister leave the room.  
  
"I'll go," Phoebe told her older sister. "I think in some way I might be able to relate and try stop her doing something stupid."  
  
"What's going on Pheebs?"  
  
"She's drinking again." Phoebe explained as she headed out of the room.  
  
Piper turned her eyes back from Phoebe to look at the two men. She shrugged her shoulders and looked hopelessly up at her friend and husband. This had to be dealt with very carefully and quickly.  
  
"I think she still needs time to rebuild up her strength before she talk to us." Piper explained.  
  
"We don't have that much time," Darryl told her. "And I seriously think that talking about it could help."  
  
"I know that," Piper replied with a small smile. "But I also know how stubborn Paige is when she gets an idea into her head. It's something that makes her who she is, something that will help her, I hope. Lets just see what Phoebe can say to her before either of you try again."  
  
"Piper," Leo started.  
  
"No," Piper told him softly interrupting her husband. "We working on our scale, not the Elders or police's."  
  
* * *  
  
"Paige," Phoebe called.  
  
Paige spun around and looked straight at her older sister wrapping her arms around at her stomach. She pinned her eyes on Phoebe as she tighten the protective grip on her stomach with her left arm and reached out her right hand.  
  
"Car keys."  
  
Phoebe watched as the car key flew out of pocket and younger sister hand.  
  
"Paige," Phoebe started in a soft but firm voice. "Drinking not going to help and running from the truth is not going to help either."  
  
"Well how do you deal with being raped then?"  
  
"Honestly, I've no idea." Phoebe confessed. "But I know that you're strong enough to do that without getting dragged back into drinking and letting this consume your entire life."  
  
Paige looked back at her as she dropped the keys on the side. "And you really think you can help me through this."  
  
"What kind of sister would I be if I didn't even try?" Phoebe told her as she placed her hand on her younger sister's arm.  
  
Paige watched as she saw Phoebe jolt into a premonition and pulled her body away. "I told you not to touch me."  
  
"And I told you I can handle premonitions," Phoebe replied in a somewhat forced voice as she tried not to focus on your vision. "Now what can you tell me what is worst than what I've seen."  
  
"Its not just seeing it," Paige explained. "It's living it, it's experiencing it." 


	8. Part Seven

Part Seven  
  
Phoebe looked back directly into Paige's eyes; she knew her younger sister was right. She would never feel the same way that Paige was, never fully understand what she had been through. But that did not mean that she was going to sit on the sidelines while her baby sister tormented herself.  
  
Phoebe reached her arm back out to touch her younger sister's shoulder and firmly kept her hand there as she felt Paige tried to shake it off.  
  
"I know it's not the same," Phoebe started as she tipped Paige face up. "We can't even begin to dream what you've been through but that doesn't stop us helping you in any way we can. You were there for me after everything that has happened this last year and I couldn't have got through it without you."  
  
Paige looked back at her older sister; she wished Phoebe would stop relating this all back to herself. She was the one that had experienced this and lived through it all, so it was up to her on how she wanted to deal with it.  
  
"That's not the."  
  
"Yes it is." Phoebe interrupted her, "It's just the same. I really low back then, in a real bad place and if it wasn't for you and Piper, I wouldn't have got through it all. You helped me when I thought no one could, you broke through my stubborn defensive wall and got me back to being me."  
  
Paige let out a large sigh, "When are you going to drop all this nonsense and let me deal how I want too?"  
  
"Fine! You deal with it!" Phoebe exclaimed as she handed Paige a ten-dollar bill. "Go out and get drunk so you can forget everything that's happened. Forget how hard it was to get sober the first time and all those AA meetings."  
  
"I don't need a history lesson."  
  
"I think you do."  
  
* * *  
  
Leo smiled at Darryl before looking over at his wife, who was watching her two younger sisters from the doorway. He walked over and tightly wrapped his arms around Piper's waist and pulled her into a hug.  
  
"How's it going?" Leo asked, following the oldest Halliwell's gaze.  
  
Piper placed her hand's over his as she looked up at her husband. "We're on full scale war at the moment but I think they are talking through it."  
  
"Well lets just hope the don't wake Wyatt." Leo replied with a small smile.  
  
Piper span around, taking her eyes off her sisters and softly hit her husband in the chest. "How can you joke at a time like this?"  
  
"Because the two of them are stronger than you think." Leo explained, "They'll get through it all just fine as long as they don't try to deal with it all alone."  
  
"They are both stubborn though." Piper pointed out.  
  
"And we can get through that," Leo explained.  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Positive." Leo told her firmly, "So how are you?"  
  
"Same me as always, trying to make sure everything works out." Piper replied, "Trying to get everything back to normal as possible. Well as normal as things ever are in this house."  
  
* * *  
  
Phoebe crossed her arms as she looked back at her younger sister. Paige definitely had the Halliwell trait of being stubborn down to perfection.  
  
"I look at it this way." Phoebe explained, "You can't forget this and suppress it all for the rest of your life."  
  
Paige bit her lip as she sent a piercing look back her older sister, "Why the hell not?"  
  
"Because it's not healthy, and even if you manage to do it, it's going to end up destroying you at some point." Phoebe told her, "So you can go out and drink yourself stupid if you want. But then you're only going to regret not doing something down the line when it's too late."  
  
"Would you jump out of the Harry Potter world and stop going like Dumbledore on me!"  
  
"Hey that British woman knows her stuff." Phoebe replied with a small smile. "But seriously he hurt you and deserves to pain for what he's done."  
  
Paige looked at her older sister considering what she was saying. Why should she be the only one that suffered?  
  
"I hate it when you're right."  
  
Phoebe smiled and wrapped her arm around her younger sister. "That's because you only like it when you're right!"  
  
Paige slowly smiled before she put her step forward and looked towards the room. "You won't leave will you? Whatever I say."  
  
"'Cause I won't."  
  
Paige smile grew for the first time in weeks as she dropped her car keys and turned to her sister.  
  
"Okay I'll do it." She said with a slight waver in her voice, "I'll testify, fill in the gabs, do whatever it takes to send that vile bast*rd where he deserves."  
  
"That the Paige I love." 


	9. Part Eight

Part Eight  
  
Phoebe watched her little sister collected herself as she made several attempts to start talking in the chair opposite. Paige had insisted on sitting on her own. Watching Paige's failed attempts Phoebe shot a quick glance over her shoulder at her big sister before sending Paige an encouraging smile.  
  
"Take your time," Phoebe told her.  
  
Paige attempted a small smile back as she looked at her older sister, "Okay."  
  
Piper held on to Leo hand tighter as she meet Phoebe gaze and pulled him closer to her. She needed some form of support from her husband, back up to hear what happened to her youngest sister, reassurance that at least some things would work on and be okay.  
  
"And remember we're here for you," Piper explained as she looked her younger sister directly in the eyes. "And we love you."  
  
Paige looked at Piper as she felt her eyes welling up. Her emotions were all over the place. "You do?"  
  
"Of course we do stupid," Piper explained. "Always have done."  
  
"I love you too," Paige replied in a soft whisper.  
  
Leo looked between the two, he hated interrupt this but time was pressing. "So do you think you're ready to tell us."  
  
Paige forced her head to nod as she thought back to the night that had been plaguing her life. "Once I start talking though, I just need to keep going."  
  
* * *  
  
Paige stared hopelessly as her older sister was lead away with a gun in her back. Noticing Phoebe quickly glance over her shoulder, she tried to offer an encouraging smile to her older sister as she mouthed, 'Go it will be okay, I don't want you get hurt.'  
  
Phoebe physically felt herself being pushed out the room as the gun was pressuring the lower part of her back.  
  
Paige had walked towards the far wall at a feeble attempt to keep as much distance as she could. Mike just shot her a grin that was filled with pure evil.  
  
"What the matter Paige? You wanted to be left alone with me earlier. And you don't want big sister to get hurt do you? You know these triggers can be awfully tricky, I mean your hand can just slip."  
  
Paige gulped and drew as much courage as she could. "Don't you even think about hurting her!"  
  
"Don't worry about her, its you I've wanted all night."  
  
Paige felt a shudder penetrate her spine as she saw Mike approach her. What did she do? If she headed back into a corner and fought him off, he could go out there and hurt Phoebe and she had been through so much this year. But if she backed down she would become a victim.  
  
She quickly started process the information in her mind. Earlier it had been a 'no-brainer', have someone feel up her leg in exchange for Phoebe's safety was easy. But that evil look in Mike's eye made it different, it was going to be so much more than having someone hand running up her thigh.  
  
She was going to fit this and then maybe she could go out with his gun and turn this to her advantage with no-one get hurt. She sighed slightly to herself, it was wishful thinking but worth a try.  
  
Paige bit her bottom lip as she saw Mike coming at her and threw her arm back to slap him across his face. She really needed to get Phoebe some of those self-defence moves.  
  
Mike felt the thumping pain in his left check as in pinned his eyes on Paige before throwing her to the ground. He raised his gun and aimed it at Paige's shoulder before aiming.  
  
"Feisty, I like that in my women!" Mike told her with a grin. "But believe me when I tell you that you're going to pay for that!  
  
Paige braced herself as she gripped onto her left shoulder. The pain was killing her but she was not going to let that stop her. She kept a defiant tone in her voice as she kept eye contact with her capture and said, "I'm not you're women."  
  
"Tut, tut!" Mike said as he climbed onto her, pinning Paige to the floor. "You'll learn."  
  
* * *  
  
Paige turned back to the others and pulled her knees back at her stomach as fresh tears started to flow from her eyes. Her mouth had dried up, she couldn't say anything else, she couldn't tell them the rest.  
  
She glanced up at their faces; she didn't need to say anything more. The expressions on each one of their faces were worth a thousand words, a mutual understand that she did not need to go on.  
  
Paige gulped as she looked at Darryl and focused herself to talk again, "Is that all you need?" 


	10. Part Nine

**Sorry about the huge delay but I was on holiday.**  
  
Part Nine  
  
Piper waited until Paige had finished and jumped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around her baby sister. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to explode from chest as everything that she had expected and feared had been confirmed. She felt tears streaming through her own face and merge into the tears that were emerging from her younger sisters eyes as she held tightly onto Paige. The eldest Charmed One looked between Leo and Darryl and the top of her youngest sister head.  
  
"You were so brave." Piper stated as she rubbed her hand across Paige back as she kept her eyes on Darryl, "Of course that's all they need right?"  
  
"Yeah, I mean yes. I got it on a recording here." Darryl said slightly taken-a-back as he lost his professional manner. "You'll just have to go through it with a officer down at the station."  
  
Darryl stopped in mid-sentence as he caught Piper eye.  
  
"But you can do that in your own time during the next week or so." Darryl continued as he saw Paige offer a weak nod. "And then there's just the trial."  
  
"The. trial." Paige stuttered.  
  
"You still want to do it right?" Darryl questioned her tearstained face.  
  
"Of course we do." Phoebe said from her chair without looking at Paige.  
  
"Paige?" Darryl asked.  
  
"I want to send him where he belongs." Paige told him with her normal strength and conviction return to her voice. "And I'll do whatever that takes. Legally or even orbing his little friend down there into the middle of a volcano."  
  
Piper wrapped her arms tighter around her little sister as she laughed. She had never felt more proud of her, not even when they had vanquished the Source or Cole.  
  
"I could do with some air."  
  
"Of course," Piper replied loosing her grip on her younger sister.  
  
Darryl allowed himself to shot them a small smile at his friends. "I'll sort it all and give you a call."  
  
"I'll show you out." Phoebe offered as she got to her own feet.  
  
The oldest and youngest Charmed ones watched as they saw Phoebe and Darryl disappear. Paige kept her eyes firmly fixed on Phoebe's back until turning back to look at Leo.  
  
"She's still blaming herself isn't she?"  
  
Leo took a couple of second to consider what answer to give his sister-in- law before gently nodding. He saw no point in trying to hide anything.  
  
"But I choose that, I mean I didn't want her hurt as well as me. 'Cause that's what got me through it all, that and going through the shopping list in my mind, that everyone else was going to be okay if I just kept my mouth shut." Paige explained.  
  
"Have you told her that?" Leo asked.  
  
"And let her lay a guilt trip on herself more than she already is." Paige replied as she shook her head softly.  
  
"I think you should."  
  
Without uttering a sound Paige slowing got to her feet and headed to the hallway. She watched Phoebe's back for a couple of seconds before meeting Phoebe's eyes. Paige started to wonder how she would be feeling and the situation was reversed.  
  
Phoebe looked back at her younger sister and finally made eye contact as she gulped and ran her hands between the bridge of her noise and her forehead.  
  
"Paige, I'm so sorry," She started, "How can you ever forgive me?"  
  
"I've already done that, 'cause there was nothing to forgive." Paige told her in a firm voice. "I wanted you out of that room as much as he wanted."  
  
"But,"  
  
Paige offered her older sister a small smile. "There's no buts about it and I'm sure you've made it up to me by saving my life every other week."  
  
"Okay," Phoebe replied. "But I do have one condition."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That you let me touch you again."  
  
"Deal," Paige said as she made her way toward Phoebe.  
  
Phoebe smiled slightly before feeling herself being flung through the air and crashing against the stairs.  
  
Phoebe looked up as she started to push herself off the floor. She blinked for a second as she saw a woman approaching Paige bouncing a fireball in her hand.  
  
"What's the matter Paige, you know it would be easier just to die and end all the pain."  
  
Paige caught the woman eyes as she held out her hand and paused to look at the fireball that was in her hand. Maybe it would just be easier wasn't that what she had just decided earlier. But that was before had decided that she needed to go through this all.  
  
"Paige!" Phoebe exclaimed as she saw the fireball leave the demon's hand. 


	11. Part Ten

Part Ten  
  
Piper ran into the doorway on hearing her younger sister scream. She watched her youngest sister stand motionless with her own mouth slight open. Piper threw her hands up in the air before stopping.  
  
She looked between her two sisters and the demon, wondering why she had stopped in the process of attempting to use her powers. Piper felt a wrench in her gut as she lowered her own hands. The eldest Charmed One was still unsure of her own actions and she glanced down to her hands.  
  
Phoebe mouth fell open further as she noticed Piper's hands lower. She mouthed wordlessly at her older sister in disbelief before switching her eyes back at Paige.  
  
Paige watched as if in slow motion the fireball flying towards as instinct took over and she stretched out her hand. She chocked slightly as she started to issue the word, "Fireball."  
  
The youngest Charmed One kept her eyes on the fireball for a couple of seconds before she pulled her hand back and threw it at the demon. A small smile started to expand as she fixed her eyes on the demon that was on fire.  
  
"Yeah it would be easy to die," She said into the thin air as the demon disappeared. "But then I've never taken the easy route in life and I'm not about to start now."  
  
Phoebe shot a grin at Piper before hurrying over to Paige and engulfing her younger sister in a hug. "I knew you could do it."  
  
Piper raised her eyebrows at Phoebe before joining the hug. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah, was never worried. I mean this is the super-witch we're talking about here." Phoebe explained with an uncontrollable grin as she pulled out of the hug. "You need to have a little faith, Pipe."  
  
"I've always had it." Piper replied, "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm not sure, it really mixed." Paige explained in a confused tone. "I mean part of me is really starting to feel slightly better about it all, as if there's an end in sight. But the other part of me feels so stupid, so low; I can't believe I drank. And I can't believe I'm craving a drink now."  
  
Piper wrapped her arm around her younger sister's shoulders, "But at least their feelings there and not just a dull nothing."  
  
"It shows you're going to get through this all." Phoebe said with her smile still fixed on her face, "You're a true Halliwell, not willing to give in easily."  
  
"I guess," Paige replied. "But it's going to be hard."  
  
* * *  
  
Phoebe was sitting downstairs at the kitchen table with her laptop on as she started to look through her letters again. It felt strange to feel that she was ready to go back to work and not just leave for her office as a distraction of the fore coming trial. Not that she was too fond of leaving the house anymore if it meant leaving her baby sister in alone. But Paige had gone out and she had work to get on with.  
  
The days had slowly started to blend into each other as life started to resume near normality.  
  
Phoebe sighed to herself, things we're really starting to get back on track. However if you looked underneath the gloss at the everyday life there were still large differences to how life had been before.  
  
Phoebe kept her eyes fixed on the same word in the letter as she wondered to herself whether things would ever be exactly the same again.  
  
Her thoughts were disrupted as she heard Piper's voice. "A penny for them."  
  
"I wouldn't want to rip you off."  
  
"I guess as much," Piper replied as she took a seat opposite her sister. "You've been looking at that same letter for ten minutes."  
  
"I thought you were still at work." Phoebe said as she felt a shiver run through her back.  
  
"I wanted to be back for when Darryl came over to talk through next week with us."  
  
"Ah." Phoebe replied as she glanced down at her watch. "Looks like Paige is running late."  
  
"She'll be okay." Piper said to reassure herself as much as Phoebe. "So what were you thinking about?"  
  
"Normality."  
  
Piper smiled, "Well we've never had that so don't worry yourself there."  
  
* * *  
  
Paige got to her feet and walked down the path between the chairs in the small hall. The walk seemed longer than she had ever remembered as she felt every eye in the room fixed on her.  
  
She got to the small stage and kept her hands clenched by her side while digging her feet into the floor for support. She closed her eyes softly to block out the faces as she took a slight gulp and felt her throat start to dry up.  
  
"My name's Paige Matthews and I'm an alcohol."  
  
She felt a small wave of relief flow through her body as she heard the others people in the room raise their hands and a series of disjointed claps emerged.  
  
"I have been sober now for one month."  
  
Fin  
  
**Things will be wrapped up in the final part of the trilogy, Revenge.** 


End file.
